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news
Wout van Aert NFTs.PNGWout van Aert is selling his three biggest wins – as NFT digital assets
Wout van Aert is selling his three biggest wins as non-fungible tokens – better known as NFTs, the digital media linked to a cryptocurrency’s blockchain – although given the criticism such digital assets have come under due to their environmental impact, the launch of the auctions coinciding with the conclusion of the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow is perhaps not the best look.
It’s a pretty impressive trio of victories, however – last year’s Strade Bianche, which kickstarted the 2020 season when it resumed in August, plus his triumphs on Mont Ventoux and on the Champs-Elysees in this year’s Tour de France, the latter denying Mark Cavendish (who launched his own NFT collection during the race) a record-breaking 35th stage win.
Something special! My three biggest victories will be sold as NFT's. Check all details on https://t.co/DCDNv4WoF5 pic.twitter.com/uclYXEWCkw
— Wout van Aert (@WoutvanAert) November 12, 2021
As the Team Jumbo-Visma rider’s tweet shows, what the successful bidder on each of the three items will receive is a unique digital representation of the victory in question … basically, a cartoon Wout van Aert on an animated background that is vaguely reminiscent of where those races were held.
Or, as Momentible.io, which has created the artworks puts it:
I own this moment as an NFT
Is probably something you might want to tell your friends when catching up on old memories of those moments. That legendary and important goal at the World Cup, the concert where you first met your partner, or even a moment that made history. This is your chance to buy those moments.
Buy one of our collectibles and get an official signed artwork from the hero that made this moment happen. It is yours forever … until you sell it to someone else.
Unsurprisingly, a fair few people on Twitter replying to van Aert’s tweet don’t quite see it that way.
— Chris Fromm (@Airoquintana) November 12, 2021
I'm also doing this.
NFTs from the New Forest Boxing Day 10, Wessex Divisional Road Championships and Round 6 of the 1999 Wessex Cyclocross League will be available very soon.
— Daniel Lloyd (@daniellloyd1) November 12, 2021
Because he will make the same amount of money with less effort now?
— Yaj ☄️ (@Space_Yaj) November 12, 2021
The auctions opened this morning at 1000 hrs GMT and run until 2000 hrs GMT on Tuesday 16 November.
Van Aert himself said: “It is really cool that I can use this emerging technology to share my highlights with my fans. Hopefully, the new owners will enjoy it as much as I do.”
Earlier this year, an NFT image of a Colnago bicycle sold for $8,600, the first such digital asset related to cycling.
> NFT digital image of Colnago bike sells for $8,600
However, Colnago came under criticism when the auction opened, due to the environmental impact of the computing power necessary to maintain blockchain technology (rather than the NFT itself).
This article from the Verge explains why blockchain technology and its use to determine ownership of NFTs has such a big environmental impact, mentioning among other things that Ethereum, the cryptocurrency that the Colnago was purchased in, “uses about as much electricity as the entire country of Libya.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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25 comments
Word of the Year !
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-59401046
So if I buy one of these then I can claim it on my palmares, right? Should help my next contract negotiations...
NFT's are just a way for criminal gangs to launder dodgy money via digital currency. Who would pay thousands for a .gif??
These digital collectables suck balls. When technology stops helping the individual or society, society and the individual should reject it. That is democracy. However when the global elite are pushing us to live our lives out virtually so they can get richer by using huge amounts of money to market something, it is simply exploitation. Someone (and I don't mean Wout) is getting richer for selling nothing while others are getting poorer for owning nothing.
I'm no conspiracy theorist and I'm no communist either, I just abhor global capitalisation. We've passed the ceiling by which it is anylonger a good thing for the world, the rich and poor divide can only go one way.
Can I just come clean and admit I don't understand this at all. On any level. (Other, I guess, than the level that WVA is going to make some money.)
Quite. What's wrong with just going down to Athena and getting the poster? It's a lot cheaper, and they'll do a frame for you there too.
What part of non-fungible do you not understand?
All of it
Does it mean "can't get it at Athena"?
Close enough
Well if Athena don't stock it it can't be much cop.
Didn't athena go bust in the 1990s once everyone had a b&w poster of a Harley Davdison?
Harley Davidson is just a cosplay company masquerading as a motorcycle brand.
And the tennis player scratching her bum.
What,??? Where am I going to get my fungicide token now??
The 'ungib' bit.
The nearest equivalent I can think of is like when you buy a share now. If you have a share in, say, Halfords, then you have a small entitlement to the earnings and future value of Halfords, although it is an entirely virtual thing; you don't get a certificate any more, your interest is recorded in an electronic ledger called Crest.
In the same way, an NFT is a digital asset and gives you the ownership rights for an image, or video, or whatever, with your interest recorded on an electronic ledger called Blockchain.
Theres undoubtedly nuances to it, but I think that sums it up.
They're exactly the same as fungible tokens, except they're just not fungible
This all reminds me of a conversation with a group of mates a few years ago. One of them asked "What is bitcoin?" and another gave a very long and detailed explanation. At the end of it, the original questioner said "Thanks, that was really interesting. I've just got one question left....
.
.
.
.
"What is bitcoin?"
Ah now I understand.
I'm off to Athena
All joking aside, I don't believe it gives you rights to the image, only the token itself. I understand it's similar to an official print of a pics of art. You own the numbered print, not the art itself
Ah, ok. I thought this description from the BBC was good;
"An NFT is like a certificate to say that you own something digital. It means original versions of viral videos, memes or tweets can be sold as if they were art."
Friends dont let friends buy digital snake oil/tulips. Especially ones as destructive as blockchain
Pardon me, while I break this most awkward of all digital silences and say it's all speculation; better to go in at the bottom and exit at the top than enter in at the top and exit at the bottom.
Strade Bianchi win available for $92 at the moment - bargain!
Only a bargain when compared with paying more for the same nothing that magically consumes electricity.
WVA is a great bike rider but doing this whilst people have to cook with kerosene, poisoning themselves with fumes, is worse than stupid - it's almost wilful ignorance.